Foreign Affairs

Trump Mulls Iran Strike Ahead Of High-Stakes Situation Room Briefing As He Says He Knows Where Ayatollah Is Hiding

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President Donald Trump is reportedly seriously considering bombing Iran while revealing that the U.S. has knowledge of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s exact location, Trump said on Truth Social on Tuesday.

Three U.S. officials told Axios that Trump was seriously considering launching a strike on Iran, in particular using bunker busters to target the underground Fordow uranium enrichment facility. Additionally, Trump said that the U.S. is not going to attempt an assassination “for now,” but noted that his patience for the Supreme Leader was “wearing thin,” the president said in his Truth Social post.

Trump will reportedly meet with the National Security Council on Tuesday at 1 p.m. to further discuss whether or not to strike Iran, sources told Axios.

“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding,” Trump wrote in his post. “He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

The U.S. has reportedly been weighing whether or not to join Israel in striking Iran’s nuclear arsenal since the beginning of the strikes June 12. Additionally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not ruling out assassinating the Ayatollah.

Israel would likely need American bunker buster bombs in order to do damage to Fordow, which houses Iran’s most secure nuclear enrichment sites deep underground.

Trump gave Iran a 60-day ultimatum on April 12 to make a deal over its nuclear program, which elapsed just prior to Israel initiating its strikes against Iran.

Israeli strikes have already decapitated Iranian military leadership, most notably killing Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Commander Hossein Salami and the Ayatollah’s chief of staff, Gholamali Rashid, on June 12; Israel also killed Rashid’s replacement, Ali Shadmani, in an airstrike Tuesday.

Iran has continued to launch retaliatory strikes against Israel, with at least 24 people killed in the nation and 224 deaths in Iran, according to CNN.

Vice President JD Vance defended Trump in a lengthy X post Tuesday, saying the president has been “amazingly consistent” on his policy towards Iran’s nuclear program.

“I have yet to see a single good argument for why Iran needed to enrich uranium well above the threshold for civilian use,” Vance wrote in his post. “I’ve yet to see a single good argument for why Iran was justified in violating its non-proliferation obligations. I’ve yet to see a single good pushback against the IAEA’s findings. Meanwhile, the president has shown remarkable restraint in keeping our military’s focus on protecting our troops and protecting our citizens.”

This is a developing story and will be updated with additional information.